Twas on the Good Ship Venus

[David Fox]

By you should have seen us,
Ankle deep in HFO,
Chiefy scraping it up and tipping it back in the Starboard tank by No. 5 hatch
As if it was quicksilver and part of his wages
Lecky forever trying to repair the 25 year old steam cleaner.

Well it wasn't the Venus, but one of those ugly Far Eastern Austasia Line ships that had been passed from pillar to post down the P&O group of companies until they could find a desparate buyer for the ex Taupo, renamed Mandowi 2.

These two ships ( ex Tekoa - Misery or was it Mahsuri) a product of Bartrams on a bad year were renoun for carrying HFO as a deck cargo as told to me by a former NZS Engineer. No wonder they had a steam cleaner and it was worn out.
It would appear that the Mate George Rawding and the Chief Brian Dobbie were not aware of this phenomenon, so Brian asked the Chinese 4th to press up the fuel tanks which he duly did.
We were light ship at the time transitting from Singapore to Kiwi with a lazy swell.
Next morning the new deck cargo appeared.
Obviously with the amount of iron work so high in the ship caused by the derrick systems they had quite an effect on the gm and rolling when light ship.

Who ever heard of a Blue Star ship having similar problems, think old Arty Shaw made sure in the design that no fuel tank could overflow on deck, instead it overflowed into the Bunker tank with an alarm to let you know.
Did anybody else have similar problems on either ship.

[Nigel Ianson]

I think you will find this was more a Bartrums problem than any other and even Artie Shaw let that one through the loop.

I did the maiden trip on the America Star and we had the same problem. All that class of ship eventually had spill boxes welded in the area round the vent pipe which was OK for a small amount but I remember the same thing happening with a larger spill on the Montreal when I was Mate. I think the Australia another Bartrums ship was the same but cant be sure.

Which brings me back to the first time this happened to me on the Caledonia. Built originally to burn either coal or oil as a steam ship, with No 3 aft the bunker hatch, the oil system was not upgraded when she was re-engined with no remote Engine Room monitoring system for tanks. They all had to be dipped from the deck level above the tank which was ok until someone left the cap off the pipe and low and behold another sticky deck.

Going forward a bit even newer ships were not extempt. The Browning had a bunker main but the vent pipe for it was on the top of the funnel which was great for covering a large area of the after deck with oil.

[David Fox]

The Browning had a bunker main but the vent pipe for it was on the top of the funnel which was great for covering a large area of the after deck with oil.

I am surprised Class allowed that. If it did erupt, surely some would find its way down the uptakes with the attendant problem of fires in the uptakes once it got hot enough. Or was it on the outside of the funnel?
Most ships had a loop into the bunker tank to prevent spills during bunkering due to over pressure when filling a deep tank. You could also gravitate from the bunker tank to the rest of the tanks to press them up safely. But I suppose they dispensed with the bunker tanks on later ships.
Yes I could just imagine you berthed at Liverpool with a strong Norwesterly blowing , start to bunker and then blatt and cover the after deck, worst still if working cargo. Liverpool dockers claiming for allsorts of ruined clothing they never possessed.

[David Fox]

This one was the 12 legged Welly back in '74.
We'd had our trials and tribulations entering the Caribean with 4 port thowing a top piston. So finally make it alongside at Panama opposite the yatch club to bunker at night.
Due to a bit of human error the bunker tank overflowed. There was heavy oil from one maindeck bridge front door round the back of the bar by No.6 hatch to the other bridge front door.
I believe Seaclean & fire hoses soon cleaned that up. The local yatchs had a fetching wavy brown design on their white hulls. We sailed whilst dark to protect the innocent and never heard a thing about it. "Not guilty your 'onor".

Another time in Wellington whilst pumping bilges through the OWS (such that it was after 25 years of rotting and rust) at night more oil in the dock off the passenger berth, next morning the Mate obviously smelt it through his porthole. More Seaclean and fire hoses into the space between ships side and the dock on its stilts.
If the harbourmaster came on board, maybe he left with a bottle and 200 cigs. Nobody was carted off to the local nick.

That ship on that voyage certainly had its moments for a young junior.
If Bob Fozard the Mate at the time, is around he might want to add his perspective.
There was a national wharfies strike, or may be just Wellington, so the deck crowd was asked to turn to to discharge the general cargo and they did with gusto (think there was a bit of extra($NZ) involved as bonus. They lapped it up, discharging more tonnage than the wharfies on a good day without 'rain checks'.

Homeward bound No. 4 port side rod came crashing through the crankcase door onto a our recently overhauled best running generator. Ooo Narsty? As Kenneth Williams was want to remark.
Bits removed, new 1" × 4" wooden frame and sheets of jointing material for a crankcase door (which was more to stop you falling in and oil splashing out than anything) and started up again. What the 'elf and safety wallies now would have done in that situation who knows. The show must go on as the luvvies say.

You shouldn't have joined if you cannot take a joke.

We arrived back at Sheerness (change at Sittingbourne) but informed the bridge don't expect Astern movements everytime on the Port engine, as it is dependant on where the engine stopped.
Had a few days leave and took a suitcase of frozen lamb joints from Sheerness to Hull by train, it wasn't dripping so no BR bylaws broken.

Full discharge and over to Antwerp for repairs to the main engine. I was relieved at that point, must have been too much of a jinx. Happy days. A very character building voyage, so much so Eric Usher told me I was being promoted to 5/E on my next ship.
A slight step up, not much, it was the BA Star, no real excitement to compare to the Welly, just a couple of short 'bedding in' voyages as a watchkeeper, joining with my Part ' A' 2nds.

Well time I turned to in the garden, suns over the yard arm.

[David Fox]

Brasilia Star on her last voyage to South America before going to scrap.
At the time we didn't know this so it was business as usual.
An uneventfull passage south down to Brazil, but we were going to anchor off at some port. The Deck department found a decent place to anchor, nothing around and we as engineers got permission to overhaul a unit at anchor.
Night junior was instructed to remove small parts on the unit in preparation for the following morning.
At 0-Dark hundred the panic bell goes, romper suit on in a hurry and slide down the ER ladder handrails. Stbd engine too far dismantled. Both engine room telegraphs ringing, Junior said the bridge wanted engines to shift ship as another ship as dragging and swinging too close.
While said jnr is preparing the Port engine and others arriving I inform the Bridge they have only the Port engine to play with.

Port engine blown through on air and we are ready for movements. Full house down below and successful manouvre.

It would appear that Johnnie the Greek turned up whilst dark, dropped his anchor, shut the bridge down, no lights on the bridge and nobody answering VHF, not even the ship's dog answering with a bark, and with the tide she was starting to swing and drag far too close for our likening.

After the excitement, the 3rd Engineer said to me, "I didn't know which ER to go down ours or theirs she was so close".

Following 2 days a sucessfull overhaul of the Stbd unit.

When we got along side we had the Port Scavenge pump to open for survey.

The Lloyds Surveyor, being young and perhaps not seen one of these Doxford 'P'
type monstrosities before , was a bit pedantic but I think the Chief talked him out of it knowing she was going to scrap but it wasn't common knowledge.

Seem to think we also re-rung no. 1 port as half the piston rings were missing, in fact after an air trunk crawl retrieved a bucket of broken piston rings from that engine.
The term " P**** in a top Hat" comes to mind. Back in the UK another half bucket of rings.
If this had been the Welly boot we would have had scavenge fires galore.

The one voyage was really uneventfull and she went to scrap with "Ted the Bed" Fleetwood who was my relief. Last time I sailed with Ted he was the 2nd and I was 5th on the America and previous to that the old Welly boot above and I was j/eng How the wheel turns.
It seems Ted was the favourite 2nd to take ships to scrap about that time, Weĺly, Adelaide, Townsville and then Brasilia Star.

No doubt you Mates will remember the old plugs and beams, 4 derricks to a hatch, the leckies overhauling all the dc motors, hold fans outward bound ready.

Buying the leather jackets, grips and mats at Marios in Monte. Good leather but rubbish stitching. I've still got a couple of mats now, a circular one made from cowskin with the 'fur' still on in different natural colours, hung over the horizontal banister for decoration.

Has anybody else still got purchases in use from those days?
Anybody a story or two to add?
Nostalgia is not what it used to be, it would seem on this website, your own at that.